His Captive

She sighs blissfully and clasps her hands in front of her with a serene smile.

“Oh, thank God! I’m finally going to get out of this shitty apartment.”

I take a deep breath, letting the insult roll of my back, before trying again.

“Ann-Marie, please take some time and think this through. This is a big decision,” I say gently. “Maybe you two should date for a while and go from there.”

Her voice is small and petulant in reply.

“I know what I’m doing, Anna. I am an adult you know.”

Just barely. Maybe legally yes, but mentally, no. But it’d do no good to bring that up now, so I take another deep breath.

“What does he do for a living?” I venture carefully, trying not rouse her. My sister is known for her hot and cold personality and I don’t want to poke the bear.

Her face falters at this question, and I see the wheels turning in her head.

“He works for his family’s business,” she begins.

“Doing what?” I want to know.

Ann-Marie huffs, exasperated by the line of questioning.

“He’s in finance or something. He just graduated from college and is getting settled into the role.”

Well, at least he works. That much is comforting. Still, I need to know more. She claims this Chance guy is rich. But how? Was he born into wealth or is he some type of prodigy who invented the internet?

“What’s the family business?” I ask casually, grabbing a worn kitchen towel. “Anything I would recognize?”

She scoffs in her throat as if to say, “Yeah, right.”

I begin wiping down the counter out of habit, my expression smooth.

“No, you wouldn’t know,” she snarks. “Jeez, Anna, so nosy, just like always.”

But the better question is if she even knows what her fiancé does. I’m going to venture to say that she has no idea because if it were some million dollar company, Ann-Marie wouldn’t hesitate to rub it in my face.

I sigh again. Unbelievable. My sister really knows nothing about him.

This marriage sure does have a strong foundation: one airhead model and probably some wide-eyed trust fund baby.

My sarcastic thoughts can’t be helped when I think about the bomb she’s just dropped.

Ann-Marie and marriage don’t belong in the same sentence. At least not right now. She’s still a baby. At eighteen she should be enjoying her youth, carefree with no responsibilities, not seducing a man into marrying her.

Jesus Christ.

As tough as she is to live with and take care of, I don’t want her to marry on a whim to start a life with some random dude.

“Are you planning on a long engagement?” I ask carefully. Again, better not to poke the bear.

“No,” her answer is succinct, leading me to suspect that she’s tired of my never-ending questions.

“What about his family? Are you going to meet his parents any time soon? And what about me? When do I get to meet my future brother-in-law?”

“I’m sorry if I’m overwhelming,” I say carefully. “But I just want to make sure we’re being as thorough as possible here. This is a huge leap. Just yesterday you were single and less than a day later, you’re telling me that’s all changed. As your sister, I’m concerned. I only want the best for you, Ann-Marie.”

My words are sincere and full of caring, but of course my sister’s already gone over the edge.

“That’s a load of shit and you know it,” she says rolling those big, blue eyes at me.

“It’s true,” I insist, still wiping away at some invisible spot on the counter.

Fire flashes in her eyes suddenly and I know it’s over now. She turns on me nastily.

“Damnit, Anna! Why can’t you just say congratulations and move on? Would it kill you to be happy for me for once? Not everyone is content to be alone and boring like you. That’s probably why you’re so against it. You want me to stay in this cramped apartment with you and do nothing with my life.”